Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Eatopia - Bon Appétit at e-inn

<Grumble> <Groan> Two consecutive eatopia posts!!! I am in a time warp these days. I've no clue each day on where a fair portion of my leaky bucket of 86400 seconds goes. Weekdays go in a flash with a very tiring evening commute, moderately heavy work load and weekends fly by. Maybe my spare time is all going to an unreported black-hole possibly created by the LHC experiments in CERN for the mysterious Higgs-Boson. I have a backlog of close to 200 posts to read and maybe comment on a quarter or less, at least.

Having explained my deficient blogdom visits and back to the topic, it is rare to find a star rated vegetarian restaurant anywhere. We went to one such last weekend, in Bengaluru (okay, it is near Electronics City, if you consider it as a part of Bengaluru), which is a multi-star rated hotel (I think it is 4 or 5 star) and whose restaurants are vegetarian, don't serve alcohol and are non-smoking.

Welcome to e-inn, the hotel on Hosur Road, 2 kms after Electronics City towards Hosur, in the Bommasandra Industrial Estate. It is a large multi-storeyed hotel (at least 10 floors) that comes up on the right and is visible from a distance, but because of the divided NH-7 you have to go under the overpass that comes after the hotel intersection and make a U-turn.

It has a very decent ambience at the entrance and some lovely flowering plants. The Chinese cuisine restaurant is at the basement and the main one is beyond the lobby. The main restaurant can seat around 60-80 and is usually frequented by IT folks (sometimes with their clients) on weekdays and families on weekends. A better way to dine would be to reserve seating in advance as I have seen the crowd increase steadily in each succeeding visit.

The lunch course started with a drink of the day (it was a chocolatey milk this time), some fritters to snack on and then the soup of the day, which had pasta and herbs in it. Then it was time to go and sample the world-wide buffet. It was a mix of Indian, Continental, Mediterranean, Oriental and some exotic dishes. Quite a few salads (at least 6 to 8 types) to sample, a few varieties of bread (3 or 4) to choose from, and the main course taken from an assortment of rice items like fried rice, pulao, saffron rice, curd rice etc, a few North Indian gravy dishes and associated bread(s), margherita pizza slices, noodles, lasagna, stir fried/tossed veggies, sambar, curries, mini dosas/chutney and a chaat item rounded off the main course.

The desserts took the icing on the cake (and takes it every time I go there with the variety). Around 10 varieties of desserts that include some bright coloured exotic ones which I have no name of, eggless cakes, payasam/kheer, fruit salad, two varieties of ice-cream.

For me, getting to this place from mine was like going to another city after crossing two toll roads before I reached Electronics City, but this place has become a regular haunt every quarter. Kids love it (choose what you want with no dearth of choices and no forced eating :-) like at home), Señora likes it for the variety to choose from and the desserts and I am ambivalent to what I eat, being picky and hence okay. Parents have a mixed opinion on this place as they are used to the typical South Indian grind of veg curries, kootu, kuzhambu, sambar, rasam and curd etc. The charges are pretty decent for the variety it offers, at Rs. 250/- per head for adults incl. taxes and half of that for children.

So went one more afternoon in the weekend that has been accounted for. :-) The dinner there also is a buffet with different entrées. If you have an afternoon or an evening in Bengaluru to spare, wouldn't mind a wide choice of all-vegetarian fare and can traverse the long drive to beyond Electronics City, I'd suggest e-inn for a try. You'll love it.

And till the black-hole releases me from its clutch, ciao!!!

6 comments:

Appu said...

For all these items, 250 is rock bottom, but considering two tolls with the petrol hike! but when you think every one likes it, the trip is worth it :P :D

R-ambam said...

actually club memberships are worth a try for such tasty bites.. in India. hmm ..!
reminds me of Residency treats

RS said...

Whaat???You left me shell-shocked!!!This variety of dishes, in a star rated hotel at the outskirts of B'lore, ONLY FOR Rs. 250???????!!!!!!!!!!!! Unbelievable!!! A feebler (V feeble) menu in the outskirts of CBE was rated at Rs.35/person!!!!

Ramesh said...

The incurable foodie has to write foodie posts - and they are now well appreciated - me having moved away from the vegetarian desertland.

Love your willingness to trek to "distant lands" in search of a foodie experience !

chennaigirl said...

Rs.250/- - Ithu romba too much, thing they havent heard abt Saravana bhavan. One sitting of HSB for a family of 3 now costs around Rs.1000/-

RamNarayanS said...

@zeno-Nothing is rejuvenating except for a long uninterrupted ride and the promise of delicious food on the other side. :-) All the annoyances in-between are forgiven.

@R-ambam-No going near club memberships for me. :-) Endha oorla irundheenga?

@RS-:-D It was lower earlier, somewhere around 220. It has been slightly increased. Worth it if you are a connoisseur of food. :) It is ages since I had been to Coimbatore though and that too I can recollect only Annapoorna and Gowrishankar. :-)

@Ramesh-Now that you are in choice-town, I can also expect some foodie posts. I do not trek in search of foodie places, though at times I have contemplated driving down to Hosur for certain authentic (!) Tamizh food. :-) Electronics City was my job location, not so far in the near past.

@chennaigirl-:-D Isn't HSB known for its price-gouging? :( In spite of all that, I may go there, if I am at Chennai. Or to Murugan Idli Shop. :-) [smack smack go my lips thinking of idli and the chutney assortments]